


Day 6: Reckless

by SaiTheWriter



Series: Turkstober2020 [6]
Category: Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Gen, Turks (Compilation of FFVII)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:48:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26865433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaiTheWriter/pseuds/SaiTheWriter
Summary: Can't always calculate every move.
Series: Turkstober2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1957075
Kudos: 13
Collections: Turkstober 2020





	Day 6: Reckless

**Author's Note:**

> Turkstober2020. Half assed, not really more than a rough rough draft.

Reno’s hand flashed out, smacking hard enough with a flat palm to resound in the room, stopping Rufus’ bland response with an expression of shock. Which is to say his brows arched, the man did not surprise much, he and Tseng were alike in that. Still, later Reno would marvel at the ability to startle the man, while probably wondering why he’d not been castrated for it.

The room he’d herded them into was small, musty. A side entry to some shop’s inventory space that was out of the way enough in the city to catch their breath. Outside the limelight of the lamps on the streets just barely reached in, casting pale light on them both and leaving them in weak shadow. A broken lock in this area of town was unlucky, but not unheard of. Surely leaving them a tip for repairs and a little extra would be fine enough.

“I don’t fuckin’ care about measured this and thats,  _ sir _ . What ya did out there, it coulda gotten you killed.” His teeth were bared, that feral glint just barely overshadowed by the serious vibe in his expression. His words were harsh, even in that rough whisper he’d used to keep their detection to a minimum. It wasn’t like him to be so...Hn. Obviously he’d miscalculated the redhead’s response as well as his actions of the day.

“You’re overstepping.” Rufus noted casually, gaze settling back into the bland chill he was so comforted by. It didn’t seem to pull the redhead from his bubbling tirade, but there was no response of resurging fire. 

“My job is to keep you safe, sir. In case ya forgot that. If that means knockin’ yer ass out and taking you from a situation like that, next time I won’t hesitate.” Outside remained quiet, for now, though the silence in the vicinity allowed him to hear further away, and the lack of anything in the distance gave him heart in the other man’s abilities. They were safe, as well as possible, in any case. “I can get yelled at after, I could give two shits as long as you’re safe. So stop frontin’ and lemme see yer hand. Blood’s seeped through the pocket.” He noted, gaze flicking down in a subtle nod to the mentioned area.

Well. Thinning his lips, the blond slowly tugged his hand from the depths of his pocket, the corners of his eyes squeezing slightly when fabric tugged at the jagged slice on his palm. “It’s nothing, a misplaced handhold.” Moving through the streets, slipping on mossy slicked pavement and left with no choice but to steady himself on broken fencepost.

“Don’t care, hand it over.” The other man laughed at his own terrible, accidental pun, wiggling his fingers palm up in response. That ire was still there in his humorless tone, but at least he wasn’t grumbling still. A bare twitch upwards of his gaze was all the eye rolling he allowed fore before resting his own palm up where he’d requested.

The cut wasn’t exactly life threatening, but his hand felt cold to the touch, paler than normal. A little prickly and numb, not that he’d let on about it. The only response he truly gave was a mild hiss to the oddly gentle prods along the tacky site. “Gonna sting.” Was all the warning before an uncorked vial of potion dumped right along his hand and dripped down his wrist into the sleeve of his jacket. It was the one time he could truly curse the redhead’s speedy nature, his actions on pulling out the potion had been unseen, fast as they were.

Immediately he growled and jerked his hand towards himself, but the Turk held fast to his wrist with a single hand, ignoring the low murmur he warned while the initial throb passed. Worse than alcohol on a good day, potions were, especially directly on a wound instead of ingested. But the direct application was far faster than a drink, when the wound held no internal danger. Unclenching his jaw as the pain gave way to the cold numb of healing, his eyes dropped back down, watching the skin steadily knit enough for the bleeding to slack and eventually stop, leaving pink and shiny in a jagged wealing mark along the length of his lifeline. 

Rough fingers cupped his hand as the last dregs of glowing liquid absorbed, leaving him with nothing to show but pink skin and tacky blood around the clear skin where once there had been a wound. He must have noted the chill in his palm, for Reno had yet to let go, the warmth in his own digits suffusing his flesh with what it could. It was...comforting, in a way. And also alarming. He was not known for physical contact. Slowly Rufus tugged his hand away from the source of body heat and straightened, offering those blue-green eyes a short nod in thanks when they dragged up silently at the move.

“You’ve terrible bedside manner.” Rufus noted, a tiny smirk tilting up the corners of his mouth, a small nod to their recent argument. A mild, if silent, apology.

“You ain’t found that out yet, boss.” The redhead returned, freezing momentarily at the sudden blurt of his normal mouthy banter. That wasn’t something Reno ever brought to the table around Rufus. Mouthing off to Tseng was just a normal day, but saying something like that...it wasn’t exactly something he had ventured into. Perhaps in front of the man, sure. But never to Rufus himself. However, his grin widened when that uptick of eyebrows popped up again. Oh, that would be a fun game. His lack of self-preservation skills had just manifested in a new journey: How to make Rufus react. And it looked like he had just the thing for it.

“Indeed. Is there a reason we’re not being picked up yet, Reno?” Back to the coolness in his gaze and voice, but Reno knew. Reno had seen.

Rufus had a soul after all, and he was making it his mission to bring it out into play more often.


End file.
